Not Fair
by Moonstone Muse
Summary: It was his last night in the Hidden Leaf; of course they both turned around and did something stupid. MA Rating/Contains Sexual Content, excess fluff, and many attempts at humor.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The definition of fanfiction means that I can't possibly own Naruto. Because if I did, there is no way in hell Sakura would have ended up with Sasuke in the end! (Just sayin'!)** **A/N: Ahh, it has been far too long since I have had the ability to write f** **anfiction! It feels so...freeing! Gleeful squeal!** **Anywho, I should say upfront that I'm stealing a few things from A Marriage Inconvenienced, a KakaSaku story that happens to be in my favorites and should be checked out, because the story is excellent (though it does abound with grammatical errors). I'm stealing the author's take on the Hatake Clan, since there really isn't any actual information about that darn clan on Narutopedia. Bad Kishimoto, bad!** **Onto the story!**

CHAPTER ONE

Kakashi slammed her against the wall, his lips pressed to the neck of the woman in his arms. Possessively, his teeth gave a nibble, then a nip, and then a bite.

A desperate moan escaped the lips of one Sakura Haruno.

Kakashi couldn't suppress the self-satisfied grin that crossed his lips. It was quickly washed away when Sakura took hold of his hair and dragged his mouth back up to hers, pressing herself as close to Kakashi as she possibly could.

"What are we doing?" Sakura asked breathlessly before pulling his earlobe into her mouth. Her fingers pulled at the mask pooled around his neck to drag it even lower to ensure it wasn't in her way.

The suckling sensation was enough to make Kakashi weak at his knees and send a shiver up his spine.

What were they doing indeed? Aside from making out in the back hallway of a bar.

Kakashi's hand drifted to Sakura's thigh, caressing the soft unblemished skin beneath the jade-green dress she had worn. He wondered if he should tell her how happy it made him that she would dress up for his going-away party. Had she dressed up for him? Probably not, he mused, it was probably for Sasuke. Everybody knew about the last Uchiha's intentions towards Sakura.

But Kakashi could pretend. He could pretend that years of waiting for Sakura to grow up was finally culminating in his chance to be with her, to put his hat in the proverbial ring, and he could pretend that she had chosen him. He could pretend that Sakura truly wanted to be with him, to have him make love to her for hours and wake up next to him every morning for the rest of their lives. He could pretend, for a single night, that he had just confessed to the only woman he had thought about for several years and that they were on their way to a wonderful, long lasting relationship. And if Kakashi downed a few more drinks, he could even pretend the two of them weren't hopelessly drunk.

Kakashi moved his hand to cradle the back of Sakura's thigh before pulling it up. Sakura quickly got the hint and gladly, with a small mewling sound, wrapped it around his hip, the high-heel digging into Kakashi's lower back.

Kakashi couldn't even begin to describe what it felt like to have a literal dream come true.

"Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura whispered softly, leaning her head back against the wall.

"Just Kakashi, Sakura." Kakashi replied, resuming his nibbling of her neck. "You haven't been my student for a long time."

Sakura giggled. "Kakashi." This time she said it louder.

Kakashi felt his pants get a little bit tighter and he bit back his own moan. Just the way she said his name was almost too much for him. "Yes, Sakura?"

Sakura's fingers raked through his hair. "I'm drunk."

"Mhm." Kakashi murmured into her neck, his free hand running up and down her side, sliding silkily on the dress fabric. What he would give to be able to touch her skin. This part of her he knew to be marked with a few scars, scars that showcased her career as both a legendary kunoichi and medical-ninja. Some of those scars had stories that Kakashi knew by heart.

"I've never been this drunk before." She replied in a dazed and confused tone. "And it makes me want you so badly that it hurts."

Kakashi kissed her again, fierce and dominating, and proceeded to lift Sakura's other leg when she tried to press even closer to him. Lifting her, with the assistance of the wall, Kakashi was able to get a better angle on the kiss, and Sakura gripped his lower body between her legs to ensure there was no room between them while her fingers continued their ministrations in his hair. She rolled her hips against him experimentally and giggled again at the hiss of a quick intake breath. Kakashi drew her bottom lip into his mouth, tenderly gripping it between his teeth, before meeting her tongue with his own. Kakashi belatedly wondered where his favorite student had learned how to kiss before forcibly pushing the thoughts away. There was no point in spoiling a perfect last-night in Konoha with jealousy.

Sakura broke the kiss in favor of leaning her head back. Kakashi could feel her trying to catch her breath, her heart beating even faster than his. In this moment, Kakashi couldn't resist the temptation to call it perfect. Here, tonight, in his arms, Kakashi had the most beautiful, most powerful kunoichi all to himself, and he relished the moment. He had wanted this for a couple of years, now.

Ever since she punched a chasm into the ground on her second bell-test.

What a beauty she had been even then, Kakashi recalled. He had felt no small amount of guilt about the fact that seeing her, that distant day ago, standing in Tsunade's office with Naruto, the blonde-ninja's first day back, had also been the first time he had seen her since Team 7 had been officially dissolved. He had always felt bad that he had been forced to treat her as such a low priority when faced with the problems of Sasuke and Naruto, two boys who had always needed him more than Sakura. He had been proud to see his pupil come into her own skill niche with Tsunade.

And watching her split the ground in an effort to locate his hiding place, well, that had been the day Kakashi Hatake had fallen in love with Sakura Haruno.

Guiltily, he amended, he had _guiltily_ fallen in love with a girl fourteen years his junior.

But that didn't have to matter right then.

"Why don't we take this somewhere more private." Kakashi asked, unable to help grinding into Sakura's lower body. The moan she let out was enough to cause Kakashi to fall in love all over again.

"Mhm, yes, mhm, OH!"

Kakashi quickly covered Sakura's mouth with his own, stifling any other far-too-loud moans. "Your place or mine?" Kakashi queried, trying to listen for anybody coming towards them. Who knew who might have heard them by now?

"Hey Loser, where's Sakura?"

Kakashi immediately froze at the sound of Sasuke's voice, pausing his ministrations to pay closer attention to the conversation.

"How should I know?" Naruto's voice replied back. "She was with Ino last I saw her, or maybe it was Kakashi? I just know she's really hammered."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted back.

Sasuke was looking for Sakura.

"Kakashi." Sakura said, bringing his attention back to her. "What's wrong?"

Kakashi's eyes met Sakura's and he became breathless.

He knew, despite being drunk, that what he was doing was not quite right. He knew that Sasuke had been pursuing the pink-haired medic for several months now, and rumor had it that she was finally starting to acquiesce to her old teammates requests. This moment, right here, was the only chance Kakashi would ever get with Sakura. He had to escape the Village Hidden in the Leaf if Kakashi was going to avoid having the mantle of Hokage bestowed upon him before _he_ felt he was ready. Tsunade had made it her mission to wear him down until he accepted the post, with all the responsibilities and all of the paper work. By the time he returned in a couple of years, Sakura Haruno would be Sakura Uchiha...

And not Sakura Hatake.

It all tore Kakashi apart on the inside.

His rational thoughts were telling him to leave well-enough alone, to stop this nonsense with his past student, return to his jounin friends, and have a few more drinks before making his way home in preparation for his departure in the morning.

Sakura chose that moment to speak up. "Kakashi..." her voice begged, her tone desperate. "Please... I _need_ you."

Before he could second guess himself again, Kakashi performed a transportation jutsu.

They rematerialized in Kakashi's own bedroom, still clinging to each other, before Kakashi placed his cherry-blossom on the bed with himself leaning over her.

Kakashi paused again, drawing Sakura's curious gaze. "Are you sure about this?" He asked, giving her one more chance to end what was happening between the two shinobi. He knew he wouldn't be able to stop even if he wanted to should they go any further.

Sakura answered by wrapping her legs around Kakashi's hips and twisting, easily flipping their positions. Kakashi groaned at the feel of her in his lap.

Sakura laughed, playfully and care-free, a mysterious glint in her eyes.

With quick and deft movements, her silky jade-green dress, the one Kakashi thought matched her eyes perfectly, was pulled up and over and tossed somewhere behind her. Kakashi couldn't resist placing his hands on her hips and pausing to take her in. Moonlight was streaming in through the window of his balcony, caressing the body of the kunoichi currently straddling him. His eyes roamed, going from her neck, over her well-sculpted breasts, past her stomach, and to the very cute underwear.

"Why, Sakura," Kakashi grinned, "I didn't know you had a thing for watermelon."

A snort was his reply. "Do you wonder if I'm just as juicy?"

"I don't have to wonder." Kakashi batted, pretending such words from her didn't surprise him.

And then Sakura was working at the pants he wore, quickly unbuckling it all and dragging his pants down as Kakashi sat up to remove his shirt. Before Kakashi knew what was happening, Sakura was back in his lap and incessantly running her lower extremities over a particularly sensitive organ.

Kakashi shivered.

"Kakashi..."

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Make love to me."

The shy tone caused Kakashi to look back at Sakura's face. It was enough to fool him into thinking she could, under different circumstances, be in love with him.

"Gladly."

Kakashi cupped her face in his hands before gently bringing their faces back together, giving her a kiss that could portray everything he felt for her. Love, attraction, respect, need, want, desire, all of it, he wanted to give her all of it.

Her hands moved into his hair while Kakashi's hands moved to travel down her side. One hand palmed a breast, eliciting a delicious mewling sound, while the other gripped her hip. Their bodies were moving against each other, sweet friction accumulating between them. He nibbled at her lip, she raked her nails across his back. It was easy to reverse their positions again, easy to hook his fingers into her panties and draw them off her, discarding them with her dress and his assorted clothes, and it was easy to situate himself between her legs and press himself against her.

Rationality was telling him he was forgetting something, something very important.

Her heels digging into his back brought Kakashi out of his head as Sakura drew him into her.

Sakura's moan was slow, languid, and blissful as her muscles stretched and writhed to accommodate him. Kakashi's groan as he sunk into her was muffled against her shoulder. Each of them took great delight in the slow movement of his penetration, savoring the feeling.

When he couldn't go any deeper, Kakashi slowly withdrew, then they repeated the process all over again.

Only a few more times before Kakashi began to quicken the pace, relishing in the feeling that was Sakura Haruno. Ever vocal, Sakura showed no restraint in the sounds coming from her lips. Words slipped out between her moans, nothing that could be turned into any specific thought, and Kakashi had a difficult time paying enough attention to anything she said. Their bodies were perfect together, fitting together like two lost puzzle pieces that had finally found their place in the picture.

"Oh kami!" Sakura cursed, her back arching. "I'm going to come, I'm going to come!"

Kakashi gripped her hips even tighter as he sped up, losing the rhythm they had previously established in seek of his own release.

Sakura screamed then, squirming beneath him as pleasure raced through her body wave after wave. Her muscles clenching around him brought a gruff groan from his own lips as he felt himself spill within her.

Panting and out of breath, they each locked eyes. Sakura had a warm smile across her face, satisfied and full, and Kakashi couldn't resist the warmth in his own face. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving her heat and instead rolled them to the side, drawing the girl into his arms. She sighed, nestling into him.

"Why do you have to go?" Sakura whispered wistfully, drowsedly, _drunkenly_. "Why can't you stay?"

Kakashi closed his eyes, resigning himself. She was still drunk, or she wouldn't be saying such things. He had to go, or he would be Hokage before he was ready and let down his village. And Sakura had to stay in Konoha, where her team was, her work was, and her future was.

Kakashi Hatake was never meant to be Sakura Haruno's future.

Before Kakashi could even blink, he had fallen asleep.

0o0

The sun was rising, spilling its light from the horizon and over Konoha.

Kakashi blinked, biting back an anguished moan.

It was time to go.

He laid there for a few moments though, enjoying the warmth at his side.

 _You're forgetting something._

He thought for a couple minutes more, trying to determine what his mind was trying to tell him. Kakashi shrugged it off as regret.

Kakashi carefully, reverently brushed a few stray strands of pink hair from the face of the woman in his arms before pressing a closed lipped kiss to her cheek. He gently separated their bodies, de-tangling their limbs, before leaving the warmth of his bed to find clothes.

It didn't take him long to get dressed in the one remaining outfit in his closet, left there specifically for this occasion, or to pick up his bags and give the room a once-over, ensuring he had packed everything he needed. He turned back to Sakura, who had curled up in his absence but remained asleep.

She looked...like home...

How many times had Kakashi imagined this moment, imagined waking up to the sight of her after a particularly vivid dream? With her pink hair splayed across a pillow, her cuddled up to his warmth, he imagined looking into her eyes and taking her all over again the moment she woke up.

He hadn't realized it would be so hard to leave her.

But it was for the best.

0o0

The sound of birds awoke Sakura, chittering that refused to cease, and she blearily opened her eyes and squinted at the mid-day sun. It had been a long time since she had slept so soundly and late into a day.

Her body felt a little sore in places she hadn't used in a while, muscles protesting as Sakura sat up.

Feelings of the previous night washed over her and Sakura reveled in them. She had felt so passionately loved in Kakashi's arms the previous night. The memory of his fingers on her bare skin, the way he had kissed her, feeling herself flush against him, and of course the way he had felt _inside her._ She should probably feel a little foolish, but--

Mid-day...

"Shit!" The pink-haired kunoichi cried, jerking up in alarm.

Kakashi's bed, check. Clothes on the floor, check.

But Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.

"No no no no no!"

Quickly, Sakura found her dress from the previous night, disregarding the heels she had slipped off at some point, and pulled the fabric over her hair. Not caring that her hair was tousled thoroughly and that she probably looked very obviously post-sex, Sakura darted out the door.

By the time she reached the village gates, she knew she was too late.

"Sakura!" Kotetsu greeted , waving at her from his booth next to the gate. His partner Izumo was distracted by a small pile of paperwork in front of him.

"Kakashi?" She breathed out the question, turning from Kotetsu to look out past the gates and onto the desolately empty path that led to and from the village.

Kotetsu smiled sadly at her. "He left as soon as the gates opened this morning." He told her. "Did you not get to say your goodbyes yesterday?"

"I..." Sakura trailed off uncertainly. "I did, but... I don't know, I guess there was a part of me that didn't believe he would leave."

 _I didn't think he would leave_ meInner Sakura cried out. _What about last night?!_

Tears pricked her eyes then, tears born of desperation and hopelessness and longing. Longing to feel what Kakashi had made her feel the night before. Longing to keep one of her special people in her life. Longing for--

No...Kakashi hadn't stayed. Maybe last night had only been sex for him. Maybe he would have been interested in starting a relationship with her, if he had stayed.

She would probably never know.

It all seemed ridiculously unfair.

"Sakura!"

The kunoichi whirled around to see Naruto barreling towards her. She waved back, barely able to muster the energy to do so.

He stopped in front of her. "Sasuke's been looking for you since last night. Poor bastard has searched all of Konoha for you."

What...what was she supposed to say to him? Or to Sasuke?

Oh kami...Sasuke...

"Sakura? Hey, what's wrong?"

Sakura burst into tears.

0o0

Having been settled onto Naruto's couch with a glass of tea, being fussed over by said blond-ninja, Sakura's thoughts kept going in loops. She had ceased crying after fifteen minutes of Naruto panicking at the gates, but Naruto refused to leave her alone. As was, she knew he was currently summoning a toad to find Sasuke.

Kakashi had left...Kakashi had left... _Kakashi_ had _left_!

And it felt like he had taken her entire life with him.

Sasuke barged through the door then and immediately saw the state his teammate was in.

"Naruto!" Sasuke growled, demanding an explanation with the one word and a single look alone.

"Don't look at me like that!" Naruto shouted back, pointing a finger accusingly at the Uchiha. "She's your girlfriend! Fix her!"

Sasuke turned back to Sakura and cautiously approached, kneeling down to be able to look at her better. It was clear that he was very much uncomfortable with what he was doing, not sure how to "fix" Sakura.

"What happened?" He asked.

Sakura didn't respond. Her eyes were downcast and her hands visibly tremored while clinging to the mug in her hands.

"Kotetsu said something about Kakashi." Naruto supplied, hoping it would help.

"Sakura, look at me." Sasuke demanded.

Sakura ignored him.

"Look at me!" He repeated, gripping her chin in his hand to force her face towards him.

Sakura's eyes caught his for a single moment before returning to the floor.

"What happened to you last night?" Sasuke asked, his tone commanding answers.

"I got really drunk." Sakura replied tonelessly. "I crashed on Ino's couch."

 _LIES!_ Inner Sakura shrieked.

She had spent the night in Kakashi's bed.

"I was too late at the gate. I missed him..." She finished uncomfortably. It all made her want to cry again.

Neither Sasuke or Naruto remarked on the obvious evidence that she had not spent the night on Ino's couch.

Sakura hadn't been prepared for last night. In a way, the last few months had been about Sasuke, about how he was finally, after so many years, pursuing a relationship with her and getting things ready for an engagement; her mother had casually mentioned that Sasuke had been to see her about something very important. But being the center of Kakashi's attentions, after having wanted that since she was twelve? It had been more than she was ready for.

 _You didn't want him romantically when you were twelve._ Inner Sakura lamented swooningly, bringing images back into Sakura's mind.

The way his hands had felt on her skin, being pinned to the wall, falling asleep in his arms.

No, she hadn't wanted the older jounin like that when she was younger. But she couldn't say she didn't want it now. In a way, he had always been family.

Because last night had made her feel alive! It had felt even better than the adrenaline high of battle or hospital chaos. It had felt better then all of her feelings for Sasuke in every moment of her life ever _combined_.

She wanted last night back so badly.

Despite it all, he had gone anyways.

Kakashi had still left.

Doubts crept into her mind then, more forceful than at the gates.

"I think she's still hungover." Naruto supplied. "Lee gets all emotional after some liquor too."

Sasuke gave his teammate a look.

"What? I'm just trying to help!"

"Sakura, is it maybe your time of the month?" Sasuke asked, his gaze directed awkwardly off to the side.

She wanted to snort. The fact that her teammates tried to keep up with her mood swings and bothered attempting to track them was a bit ridicules. This wasn't mood swings.

"It could be all three?" Naruto guessed.

Sakura minutely shook her head. It was more for herself than her teammates.

Sakura Haruno was most assuredly suffering from a broken heart.

What had she done?

The tears started all over again.

 **A/N: Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think so far with my introductory chapter! (Reviews are the best sustenance for an author!) I don't expect this to be a particularly long piece, three or so chapters. I know enough about myself at this point to keep my writing endeavors on the smaller side (me and long projects don't get along), which means this will not reach novel size. I have a hard time seeing myself ever writing something longer than 50K words ever again. But I hope this is still worth the read!** **Sakura has always struck me as the type of person who loves easily. And all it takes is certain experiences for the type of love you feel towards somebody to switch unexpectedly, whether that be falling in or out of love.** **The next chapter will take place over the course of a year. What does Sakura do about her broken heart? What will Kakashi do with his time away? Will Tsunade finally win a bet that doesn't signal everything will go wrong?**


	2. Chapter 2

Not Fair - Chapter Two

 **A/N: I'm manic right now (yay bipolar!) so I couldn't write something angsty if I tried right now (but I ain't complaining). I haven't written a ton of humor before, though, so lots of trying to be funny here. I hope I can at least bring some smiles to faces and maybe a chuckle or two.** **Thanks be to Lady Silvamord and her story Affaire de Coeur (a very wonderful NejiSaku, comes highly recommended)(okay, ALL of her stuff is highly recommended, she's one of my favorite authors of all times! She mostly does ItaSakus stuff.) for it was from her story that inspired me to use this particular format for this chapter.** **It's VERY OBVIOUS where this is going (it was intended to be, I'll save seriousness for my next writing project) so I shall first disclaim that I in no way, shape, or form, condone sex without a condom. Not JUST for pregnancy prevention, but also for STDs and STIs, which are very serious business. Only in the world of writing can pregnancy and said STDs be ignored or used as writing devices and plot twists. Have sex responsibly! Use condoms!**

 **Enjoy!** Not Fair - Chapter Two

Sakura gazed longingly at the dango stall, wrestling with herself on whether she should eat a sixth stick _this week_ of the sweet sticky goodness. She was passing by on her way home from another gruelling shift at the hospital. Sakura knew that what her body needed was _protein_ , and not sugar.

She belatedly wondered if she was addicted to sugar again.

Then she went in for a stick of dango. It would pair nicely with the bowl of chicken ramen she'd been craving all day.

She took her dango to-go and resumed her walk home, choosing the path that would go by Ichiraku's.

0o0

The advertisement for the latest movie adaptation of Make-Out Paradise had caught Kakashi's eye.

Big, bold, _orange_ , with a pin-up girl being chased by a strappingly handsome man, both characters wearing playful expressions.

Kakashi rubbed at his mask-covered chin, pondering the advertisement.

Was it, possibly, Kakashi's duty to fully take up the mantle of the wandering pervy-sage Jiraiya by _also_ writing an _adult-only_ romance novel series? After all, Kakashi had the wandering and pervy parts down pat, he just needed to somehow be titled a sage, and what better way to do that than being praised by men all over the world?

Kakashi stared at the sign.

The sign stared back.

0o0

"Sakura, go home."

Sakura looked up from her stack of medical charts to confusedly glare at Shizune.

"Everybody knows you've spent all morning throwing up for the last week." The older woman said, her face worried. "And you've been complaining of a back-ache too. Go get some sleep, you look like you could use it."

"I have been sleeping!" Sakura retorted back with a scowl, "And it's hardly my fault that everything I eat, no matter how good it sounds, has been coming back up! I haven't seen Sasuke all week because I've been in bed whenever I'm not here."

Shizune pointedly looked at the ring on Sakura's finger.

"Just say it, Shizune." Sakura replied grumpily. "Everybody else has given their opinion, you might as well too."

"What did Tsunade say?"

Sakura slumped back in her chair, gesturing wildly. "'It will be good to have the Uchiha Clan finally restored to the village, one of the most prestigious blood-limits available! And the Uchiha is a good match for you, Sakura, I'm sure he'll be able to help with that growing temper of yours! Your babies are going to be so cute! But goodness will that red Sharingan clash with your pink hair. Has Sasuke expressed concerns about your hair color? Have you decided on your guest-list? Everybody in the Fire Country is going to want to attend this wedding-'"

"I think I get it." Shizune interjected quickly. "You're probably just stressed, Sakura, and that's why you're throwing up and your body is aching and you're not sleeping well. You have to plan a pretty big wedding and being the Matriarch of the Uchiha Clan is a big deal."

Sakura's forehead hit her desk with a very loud KUTHUNK.

Shizune sighed. "I'm not making you feel better, am I?"

Sakura didn't comment.

Tenderly, Shizune reached out to pat Sakura on the shoulder. "In case it isn't anxiety, nobody is going to disown you for consummating your marriage a little early. Sex isn't synonymous with marriage amongst shinobi-"

The pink-haired kunoichi immediately stiffened. When she sat up, her glare was icy cold.

Shizune immediately started to _slowly_ (never make sudden movements around a Tsunade, whether it be the original or the copy) back away. "I was just pointing out that your symptoms _do_ match and that-"

"I'm not pregnant!" Sakura snarled.

And with that, Sakura decided she was, indeed, going home for the rest of the day.

It wasn't until Sakura was out in the streets of Konoha, surrounded by the bustling of afternoon traffic, when her mind actually began to process what Shizune was saying. Only now was she allowing her mind to begin thinking about what Sakura had been purposefully not thinking about since she had first started having nausea from early morning risings until about noon every day for the last week. The cravings were a little weird as well; Sakura generally knew her body well enough to know exactly why she was craving certain foods (bananas were potassium and red meat meant iron or veggies could be fiber or different vitamins and carbohydrates meant sugar and dairy meant calcium, etcetera etcetera). But she had had that sudden increased desire for dango in particular, not just any kind of sweet, and it was specifically chicken ramen with extra egg and double veggies--

Speaking of ramen.

Sakura found herself already having sat down in a seat at Ichiraku Ramen.

"Sakura!" Naruto managed to greet her, somehow, through a mouth in the process of slurping ramen.

"The same as last night, Sakura?" Ayame asked.

Sakura nodded.

Naruto finished his mouthful of noodles and grinned happily at her. "You get off early?"

"Yeah." Sakura replied wearily. "I'm still feeling under the weather."

"Nothing a bowl of ramen won't fix!"

Sakura couldn't help the smile that spread across her face at the sight of the bowl set in front of her. "Thank you for the food!" She exclaimed before digging in.

"Ne, Sakura?"

"Yes, Naruto?" Sakura said. Her eyes were currently closed in bliss, better to savor her food with.

"Don't hit me for this, but are your boobs bigger?"

THWACK.

"Sakura! Why?!"

0o0

The page before him was blank.

It was going to be a lot harder to write this book than Kakashi had originally thought.

0o0

Sakura found herself missing Kakashi at the oddest times.

It was hard to stop her gaze looking for him in the crowds. Kakashi casually strolling with one of his smutty novels held up to his face had once been a common sight.

Sakura's eyes always wandered to every bench or tree limb to see if her sensei was catching a nap as he lazily lounged with a book sprawled across his face.

Or Sakura would find herself waking up in the middle of the night, some odd noise waking her, and she would immediately look towards her window and the fire escape to see if Kakashi was there hoping to be patched up by his "favorite student" instead of being forced into the hospital.

Then there were the moments when Sakura would wistfully remember the last night they had spent in each other's company and her heart would ache at the sheer amount of desire Sakura experienced.

Despite the hurt and sadness and tinge of anger, Sakura's rational brain agreed that Kakashi had had to go. She knew he had been picked as the Sixth Hokage, and that he didn't feel he was ready. It was better in the long run for him to spend a couple of years outside of the village before being strapped to a desk. Though it was hard to imagine Kakashi _not_ delegating the vast majority of his work to an assortment of lackies. Poor Kotetsu and Izumo would be even busier than they were with Tsunade.

Better for Kakashi, yes.

But maybe not better for her.

0o0

Kakashi eyed the glass before him, staring intently, daring the warmed sake inside said glass to give up.

"Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja, user of one-thousand jutsus and one original, owner of the Mangekyo Sharingan, does not lose!" He shouted to the crowd.

The crowd cheered.

"And I, Might Guy, Green Beast of Konoha and eternal rival to Kakashi Hatake, never gives up!"

They both downed the glasses in front of them.

Guy, who had very coincidentally run into Kakashi in a border hot spring town to Fire Country, wobbled precariously from his seated position.

"How do you drink that without anybody seeing your face?" Guy questioned with squinted eyes.

Kakashi squinted back with his single eye. "I'm too drunk right now to remember."

Guy nodded. His entire body had begun to sway dangerously and he looked as if--

Kakashi blinked.

Guy had definitely fallen off his seat and was dozing rather peacefully on the tavern floor.

With all the self control Kakashi could muster, he stood up, refusing to tremble or sway, removed several bills from his pocket to place on the table, and carefully and _steadily_ walked away.

He hoped Guy enjoyed walking back to Konoha on his hands.

On Kakashi's way out the door, he loped his arm across the shoulders of another man and dragged him away.

Trying to make sure nobody was paying attention, Kakashi fervently gazed around. He wouldn't throw up. He wouldn't throw up.

"What do you have for me?" Kakashi asked.

"Things are quiet." The man muttered grumpily. "Too quiet. Someone saying Stone is getting a new Hokage with an interesting take on things, but nobody's spilling their beans."

"Hmm, Earth Country, huh..." Kakashi mused. "Know anybody who might know more?"

"Best chances are going to be Sound. Everything has been passing through there since declaring itself Shinobi free."

Kakashi clapped the man on the back, possibly too exuberantly, and exited the bar. Konoha's Green Beast was still snoring on the floor.

Upon returning to the room he had rented in the quant hot-spring inn, Kakashi sunk to the floor upon the soft comforter that he had left there that morning. The night had been good, Kakashi had gotten some inspiration for some scenes in his book, he was due to meet another informant tomorrow, and he was exactly one week late past the due date for his second report back to Konoha.

Yes, life was good.

The warm sake in Kakashi brought back memories of Sakura, more specifically a certain last night in Leaf.

He wondered what Sakura was doing now. He had only been gone a little under two months. Was she officially engaged? Had she achieved another medical marvel? She had just reached jounin a few months ago, maybe she was considering (code for being forced into) taking a genin team. Aside from Sakura's low threshold for stupidity, Kakashi had always known Sakura would be fantastic with children. She could teach a genin group a thing or two.

Had she forgiven him?

And Kakashi would continue to pretend he didn't miss her.

0o0

Sakura stared at the ring on her finger.

It was really quite beautiful; it was beautiful because it was simple.

Sakura remembered dreaming as a little girl of having a really rare rock embedded in a ring that had been found by her shinobi husband-to-be (just like her mother's ring) and had always imagined it would be tacky and over-hyped. Sasuke had picked well, though, choosing a ring that would suit who Sakura was now, a practical but kick-ass medical kunoichi who could heal anything short of death itself.

It was the perfect ring.

But...

Slowly, Sakura slid the ring off of her finger.

Inside, Sakura knew this was the right choice. She knew that she wasn't that little girl anymore, the one who had chased after Sasuke relentlessly and who would have done anything and everything for him. She wasn't quite capable of loving him completely unconditionally anymore. She wasn't entirely sure if she trusted him enough not to leave her on a park bench again.

She still loved him.

But she didn't love him enough to do this to herself.

Her heart was being torn in two.

On one hand, Sakura had the relationship that she had told herself she wanted since she was eight-years-old. And on the other hand, Sakura had her night with Kakashi, an experience she was having a very difficult time not comparing Sasuke to.

A comparison that was severely...lacking...where the dark-haired Uchiha was concerned...

Seeing what she was doing, Sasuke sighed and reached out his hand, palm up. Sakura dropped the ring into his hand and tenderly folded his fingers over it.

"I should have guessed." Sasuke said stoically. "I knew something has been off with you since Kakashi left."

Sakura gulped nervously, attempting to avoid eye contact. She didn't want to admit to what Sasuke was vaguely referring to. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. It might have worked under different circumstances."

Sasuke eyed her suspiciously for a moment. "What happened on Kakashi's last night in Konoha?"

Sakura merely shook her head. They were not going to discuss this. "It doesn't matter, it doesn't have anything to do with this. The truth is that I realized that you're not what I want anymore. I've allowed myself to be focused on you for too long, allowed my gaze to grow narrow. I realized that there's a lot more out there and that...I'm not blinded by love anymore."

Sasuke replied with a "Hn."

"I promise I won't make this awkward."

And hopefully all of the anxiety Sakura had been feeling since putting that ring on her finger, all of the second guesses and the doubts and the questioning herself and the soul searching, would go away. She was looking forward to keeping food down again.

0o0

Kakashi stared at the bath house.

"I've only come close to dying twice in my life."

A mental image of Sakura heinously punching him in the gut and her fist going right through him.

A shudder.

"It's probably best if I don't copy everything Jiraiya did."

0o0

Sakura's eyes moved over to the pregnancy test waiting on the counter next to the bathroom sink. If she had timed it right, it had been exactly three minutes. When she picked it up, it would tell her what all of her friends had been guessing at for the last couple weeks (and what Sakura had resolutely refused to even consider, at all, for even a single second).

"Deep breaths, Sakura, deep breaths." She said to herself.

And she picked up the test.

0o0

Kakashi Hatake sneezed.

Violently.

His entire manuscript went flying out the window.

0o0

"I'm pregnant."

Naruto instantly dropped his ramen.

Hurriedly, Naruto looked back on his entire life in an effort to make sure it was not his. Had he ever done anything that could possibly somehow maybe produce a baby, particularly with Sakura?

THWAP!

"Sakura! What was that for!?"

Sakura sighed in exasperation. "Idiot! You and I have never had sex!"

"Okay...Is it Sasuke's?" Naruto physically blanched at his best-friend's name.

"No..."

"Oh..." Naruto paused in confusion. Sakura could see the cogs of his brain whirring inside of his head, trying to figure out what it all meant and possibly even the meaning of the universe. And then it was gone with a shrug of Naruto's shoulders and a happily blissful expression. "Great! Then I don't want to know who's it is and I want a new bowl of ramen! And I will not be changing dirty diapers!"

0o0

"Come on, Sakura! Tell me, tell me!"

Sakura looked over at Ino from over her very cool and refreshing tea, one eyebrow raised.

"If I tell you, Pig, then all of Konoha will know in exactly twelve hours and fifteen minutes. Except for Naruto. He really insists on not ever finding out, ever."

Ino dejectedly sighed. "That means its not Naruto's. And you wouldn't have broken things off with Sasuke if it was his..." Ino suddenly visibly brightened. "Rock Lee! It has to be his!"

Sakura gave Ino the I-know-exactly-what-you're-doing look.

Ino's face quickly adopted a pouting expression. "Please?"

Sakura shook her head, not able to resist the small smile. She couldn't help taking some small delight in Ino's suffering in not knowing something.

"I have ways of making you talk, Forehead! I will find out before that baby is born exactly which hunky shinobi you scored big with."

"I don't think so, Pig."

They'd already had this exact conversation fifteen times. Sakura casually wondered how many more times it would happen before her best-friend got the hint.

"Just wait, it won't be long before there's a bet on your baby's paternity just like there's one on what Kakashi looks like under his mask."

Sakura tried not to blush. She really needed to get out of that last pool, what with the fact that she actually _knew_ what the notorious copy-ninja looked like under the mask.

If Sakura was lucky, her baby would get pink hair and green eyes and she'd never have to admit that it was anything other than divine insemination.

0o0

It was beautiful.

Bright purple cover, the adult-only symbol on its back, the humanoid figure on the front.

Yes, Kakashi agreed, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen!

"Icha Icha Wanderings is finally here!"

It had taken seven long months of writing and another month to clear it through a publisher, but Kakashi's masterpiece was finally being recognized.

Kakashi very carefully placed the book, the advanced readers copy, into a padded envelope before writing Sakura's name in his chicken-scratch writing. He would drop it with his next report and Tsunade would be sure to get it to her prized apprentice.

He was looking forward to the bruise she would leave when Sakura greeted him with a punch the next they met for sending such a horrible porn-filled novel to her.

0o0

Sakura wanted to break down into sobs, go on a ferocious anger-filled rampage, and lie in bed wistfully, all at the same time.

"I mean it, Sakura." Tsunade somehow managed to sound gleeful and stern at the same time. "You're confined to bed rest until your due date."

Naruto patted Sakura's shoulder awkwardly. "Grandma Tsunade already made me promise to not leave your side." He said, gulping at Tsunade's look of there-will-be-consequences-for-disobeying.

The tears were threatening to spill.

A part of Sakura wanted to blame hormones, but she was willing to admit (only to herself, to Inner Sakura) that the frustration was probably due to all of the feelings she had been bottling up since seeing that positive pregnancy test.

So help her kami, Sakura was going to be giving Kakashi the beat-down and lecture of a life time.

...after she kissed the breath out of him first.

All of her emotions felt so muddled and confused. She wanted to kill the Copy-Ninja and make love to him at the same time. She wanted to berate him for being so stupid and apologize to him for her being stupid. She wanted to hate him for leaving and be grateful that he left.

And then there was the bed rest.

"Lady Tsunade-" Sakura tried to protest.

"No negotiations on this one, Sakura." Tsunade cut her off with an air of finality. Then her features softened. "This is for your good and your baby's good, and for my good too."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her teacher. "You're in the pool, aren't you."

Tsunade didn't even try to pretend otherwise. "Of course I am! And I know this little baby," Tsunade rubbed Sakura's swollen stomach affectionately, "will bring me a large and vast fortune!"

Naruto awkwardly laughed next to Sakura.

Sakura could only sigh. "I know you're in the bet too, Naruto."

"Hey, don't look at me like that, Gemma made me put some money down!"

Sakura snorted. "Yeah, right. He 'made you' do it."

"That man doesn't know when to quit! He wouldn't leave me alone until I put a few bucks down. Blame Grandma Tsunade for starting it!"

Oh, no worries there, Naruto! Inner Sakura screamed. We know exactly who to blame!

"I'm telling you," Tsunade said cheerfully, "I know I'm going to win! I know things nobody else does!"

"Cheater..." Naruto and Sakura both grumbled at the same time.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Tsunade quickly rummaged around in her bag before pulling out an envelope. "This came for you today." She tossed it at Sakura.

Sakura looked down at it suspiciously.

She would recognize Kakashi's handwriting anywhere.

"Back to being Hokage for me." Tsunade said, not even the prospect of work getting her down in the face of the parentage bet. "Call me if you suspect even the smallest thing is wrong, Naruto."

Naruto nodded.

Sakura wasn't paying attention to her teacher's exit, though, but instead to the little purple novel that had come out of the envelope.

"He didn't..." Sakura said quietly, turning the book this way and that.

"Who didn't do what, Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"I'm gonna kill him. No, first I'm going to tear him apart limb for limb, then force feed him the most painful poison I can make and-" Sakura cut herself off, however, when she noticed the words written on the inside of the front cover.

*To my favorite student, a muse as beautiful as a cherry-blossom, as tender and gentle as a kiss, but as strong and cruel as a shuriken to the heart.*

She wasn't going to cry, she wasn't going to cry...

"Ne, ne, Sakura! No, wait, Grandma, Sakura is crying for no reason! WHAT DO I DO?"

0o0

Kakashi had been fishing.

Fishing in a boat off of the coast of Water Country.

It was a fine day, the sun was shining, and there was a nice refreshing breeze blowing from the north, making it the perfect day to disguise himself as a fisherman and catch a few fish and lots of gossip.

But before Kakashi could listen to any of the good gossip that didn't have to do with the big royal wedding happening in the Mist, something had snagged his wire line and refused to let go.

Kakashi had felt like a character out of the novel as the aquatic creature he had managed to snag dragged the boat for two days and two nights. Kakashi admitted he should probably let go, but every time he thought about doing so, the curiosity to know what was on his line was too great.

He was off the coast of the Land of the Moon when the great beast finally tuckered itself out and allowed Kakashi to drag it into the boat.

And what a beauty it was.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck in an embarrassed way and crinkled his good eye in a smile at his prize. "How unexpected." He chuckled to himself.

Kakashi had managed to catch one of the deep sea dragons (named after the gem-like scales that covered its body). Serpentine, with a frill that resembled a western-land styled crown and six inch needle sharp teeth. The one he caught was the most vibrant shade of red in existence. Selling even half the scales would net enough for a person to live comfortably for ten years. In the hands of a cheapskate like Kakashi, it could last a lifetime.

Kakashi looked up to see the inner curve of the Land of the Moon on the horizon. How very fortuitous it all seemed. This little sea dragon and off the coast of one of the wealthiest islands.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you alright?" Sakura asked, bending over to take a look at him.

Kakashi raised a hand feebly in response from his face down position on the concrete. "Oh sure, I just went a little overboard. Nothing some rest and recuperation won't cure."

Sakura jumped up with a loud whoop. "Score! Duty-paid vacation time!"

Ahh, the days when Sakura had still relied somewhat on Kakashi's protection. The two of them had worked well on that mission, especially when they were working together to keep their blonde teammate from killing the child they were protecting.

Nostalgia gripped his heart for cute little twelve years-old Sakura, a time before Kakashi had noticed her as a woman. She had been such a faithful little pupil.

"I am sure there's plenty of things to inspire another novel while I take a vacation." Kakashi said to himself as he made preparations to head to the island. "My latest report is only past due by a week and a half."

Kakashi wondered how Sakura was enjoying the novel he had sent her.

0o0

"Naruto! NARUTO!"

CRASH. THUD. "Ow..." More moving around, more thumps.

Sakura assumed this was all a part of Naruto trying to get up from her couch.

Bed-raggled and panicked, Naruto burst into the room. "Is the baby coming?!"

From her spot in the middle of the bed, a bright purple book sitting closed in her lap (the spine clearly worn though it had only been in Sakura's possession for a week), Sakura looked at her teammate as if he was crazy. "Naruto, I'm not due for another two weeks...idiot..."

Naruto's expression quickly turned into one of absolute relief. "Whoo, that's good, I'm going back to bed-"

"I need a favor." Sakura quickly interjected.

Still trying to blink sleep out of his eyes, Naruto looked at her dully. "Sakura, it's like three-"

"Four."

"-in the morning, can't it wait until a decent time?"

"I can't sleep."

Naruto truly looked torn between relenting to whatever Sakura was going to request (probably another really weird mash up of foods) and going back to the comfortable nest of blankets he had transformed Sakura's couch into.

"I don't want food." Sakura said, already guessing at his thoughts.

"Foot massage?"

"No."

"You're not going to ask me to sneak into your office for paperwork again, are you? Tsunade beat me up really bad last time."

"No, I learned my lesson the first time."

Naruto visibly deflated with a sigh, clearly relenting.

"I need you to steal all of the Icha Icha novels from Kakashi's apartment for me."

Silence.

Cricket chirp.

"Ehh?"

Sakura nodded matter-of-factly, as if she hadn't just asked her best guy friend to go and get a stack of adult-only essentially-pornographic novels.

0o0

The waves crested along the shore. The sun caused the miniscule grains of sand to glitter in its light. People frolicked and played. Everything was happy.

Kakashi had this very strange feeling that he wanted to punch Naruto.

0o0

Sakura only had eyes for her baby.

He felt so small and tiny in her arms. The emotions coursing through Sakura ranged from sheer joy, exhaustion, despondence, and protectiveness.

Her son.

Sakura didn't know how she had lived life without him before that very moment.

"I knew it!" Tsunade pumped her fist in her hair (this was her first gambling win in some time). "All of Konoha owes me money now!"

But Sakura wasn't listening.

Her baby boy had primarily distinctly Haruno features, including a green right eye. His hair, however, was silver and wispy and his left eye spun with a single black tomoe, distinct against the red.

"I'm going to kill him!" Naruto screamed in sudden rage. "How dare he get my Sakura pregnant!"

"Shut up, Naruto." Sakura said quietly.

"But-but-but-"

Sakura couldn't take her eyes off the baby in her arms.

Naruto made an undignified "harumph" before muttering "I'm still going to kill him..."

Sakura tenderly brushed her finger against her baby's cheek, smiling at the different expressions that crossed the little one's face. He was the most amazing thing Sakura had ever seen. She almost couldn't believe that it was her and Kakashi who had produced him.

"Ne, Grandma Tsunade?"

It was a testament to how happy Tsunade was that she didn't slap the young man for calling her grandma. Or maybe she finally felt like she had earned that title (she had already informed Sakura that she would be spoiling the young ninja-to-be rotten).

"What, Naruto?" The Hokage sighed in resignation.

"Why does it have the Sharingan?"

Sakura actually looked up at Naruto's question. She had been asking herself the same inquiry.

"Hatake Clan." Tsunade replied. "It's not a well known fact, but they have what's considered to be 'adaptive chakra'. The Hatake chakra has been known to rewrite DNA so that the Hatake's body doesn't reject. It makes things like blood transfusions and organ transfers easy for both to and from. I don't know if it's ever been tested with blood limits before now. There wasn't anything in the books I went searching through, mainly hypotheses, conjectures, and an annoying amount of guess-work. But it had seemed mostly sound."

"Hear that, spawnling?" Naruto leant over Sakura's shoulder to eye the baby dubiously. "You're super special awesome special."

Sakura laughed softly as she shifted her attention back to her baby. "He is very special indeed."

"Wait a second..." Naruto protested. His thinking face was being directed at Tsunade. "How did you know who the dad was?"

"Naruto's right." Sakura stated, giving her mentor a look. "Nobody knew about me and Kakashi."

"You and Kakashi?!" Naruto screeched. "Were you two in a relationship?! Why didn't somebody tell me?! Sakura!!"

"One-night stand." Tsunade corrected him. The smile on her face was both wise and mischievous. "And I just know things."

Naruto crossed his arms to pout. "I'm still going to kill him!"

 **A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review, I appreciate any and all feedback, whether praise or criticism! Also, even though I've read over this five times, I'm sure there's still an error. If you spot one, please point it out!** **Thank you to everybody who did leave a review. I have to admit, though, it was the guest flamer who brought a good long laugh from me! (Though, by definition, I'm technically a slut, not a virgin, but the rest of the insult was pretty spot on!)** **One more chapter of this, which I aim to post Friday! It's mostly complete, I want to write one more small scene for it. Now I have to decide what I'm going to write to keep me busy until NaNoWriMo... ItaSaku, GaaSaku, or AU KakaSaku...choices choices choices...**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: dammit! So, in case it wasn't obvious, I haven't finished the Naruto series yet. I got up to the weekly updates of the manga just before the Fourth Shinobi War and stopped reading, with the intention of going back once there was more. I reread the manga up to shippudden a couple years back but didn't get much farther. And right now I'm rewatching the anime series with my significant other. AND I ONLY JUST FOUND OUT THAT KAKASHI LOST THE SHARINGAN! I am so devastated... I thought I was following cannon a little bit more closely than I, apparently, am. Oh well, this was still fun to write with the knowledge I did have.** **Enjoy!**

Not Fair Chapter Three

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A finger drumming the large wooden desk contemplatively while its owner peered at the man before her with exasperation and tired rage.

"You're late, Hatake, very very late."

"Only by two years." Kakashi replied chipperly. "You see, I was kidnapped by-"

"Your original assignment was for four years." Tsunade cut him off with a raised eyebrow. "I've been calling you back for five."

Kakashi's eye crinkled in his signature grin as his hand rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, yes, I assumed that was a mistake."

"I sent out a new coded bulletin every six months that clearly had your codename on it and was marked urgent."

A soft chuckle was the reply.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and sighed. She glanced up at the clock, then back at Hatake.

What was she going to do with this man?

And he still didn't know.

Tsunade looked at all the paperwork on her desk. She idly wondered how much paperwork she could stack up for him over the next two weeks before giving him the reigns of the Hokage position. But was that enough payback?

"Do you have anything additional to add to your report?" She finally asked resignedly.

"Nope. The Allied Shinobi Nations are holding. I investigated every rumor that popped up that said otherwise. There was never anything to them."

"Hmm." Tsunade paused thoughtfully. "That's really good to hear. Makes your job easier, I guess." Yes, she would be stockpiling paperwork for him. Damn him taking over Hokage during a time of peace! Damn him being gone six whole years! She had lost the bet on his homecoming several years previously, costing her half of the winnings from the parentage bet. (And oh how people still hated her for being the only person to get that one right.)

"Still have the key to your apartment?" She asked nonchalantly. If nothing else, his reaction when he got home would be priceless.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade."

She glanced at the clock again. If she let him go now...

Ehh, it probably didn't matter.

"Fine, go, you're dismissed, Hatake."

Kakashi gave his Hokage a quick bow and turned to leave.

"Oh, Hatake."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade?"

"I would currently avoid Naruto, he has a self-imposed bounty on your head."

0o0

As Kakashi walked through Konoha, tired and travel weary, he had a very distinct feeling that he was missing something.

Everybody who knew Kakashi greeted him happily, though some with more enthusiasm than others. But every person he saw had this knowing smirk on their faces, the tell of a very delicious piece of information. Eyes lit up in delight, but not necessarily because he was back.

"Kakashi, my eternal rival!" Might Guy leaped out of nowhere and into the path of said rival. "You have finally re-graced dear and beautiful Konoha with your aboundingly youthful presence! How my youthful fire burns to know our rivalry-"

"Guy, what's going on?"

Guy paused.

Like a rabbit nearly speared with a kunai.

"Guy...what aren't you telling me."

"N-n-nothing, my dear rival! ThereisnothingyouneedtoknowandIhavenothingtosayand-goodbye!"

Before Kakashi could get his "rival" to spill his secrets, Might Guy disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The further Kakashi went, the more he was sure that the village was having some sort of joke at his expense. Was it something he was wearing? Sure, his clothes looked a little travel worn, but they weren't patchy or in disgrace. His hair was still the same silvery shaggy mop on the top of his head, his headband still covered his (increasingly taxing) Sharingan, and his mask still covered the bottom half of his face. The village didn't seem much different, maybe a few more young faces on the rooftops that he didn't recognize and some stores had been renamed.

Kakashi stumbled upon Sai painting some kids playing in the street a block shy of his apartment.

"Sai." Kakashi greeted with a wave and an eye crinkle.

"Kakashi-sensei." Sai greeted back rather blankly.

"You got married." Kakashi pointedly looked at the ring on the artists hand. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"Ahh, Ino Yamanaka." Sai replied calmly. "Does dickless know your back?"

"Nope. And I'd like to keep it that way until I know why he wants to kill me. You don't by chance..."

Sai cocked his head thoughtfully. He turned back to his painting. "I am not allowed to say, she will break every bone in my body...twice..."

Kakashi winced, assuming he was talking about Ino. Sakura hadn't threatened to injure Sai since her first mission with him, Tsunade rarely found fault with the emotionally stunted ex-Root, and, as far as Kakashi knew, Sai didn't really hang around any other women.

But, alas, much could change in six years.

"Alright then, I guess I'll see ya around."

"Goodbye, Kakashi-sensei. Do not die."

Kakashi shuddered as he walked away. It was starting to bug him that the entire village seemed to know that Naruto was gunning for him, yet nobody would tell Kakashi exactly why.

Genma was waiting outside his porch. He twirled the senbon expertly in his mouth and smiled toothily at Kakashi. "Izumo mentioned you had walked back through the gates. Haven't seen Naruto yet, then?"

Ahh, yes, Kotetsu and Izumo. Their expressions at the gate were starting to make sense.

Kakashi shrugged. No point in bringing anything up with Genma, he'd quickly detour the conversation to any new ladies that could be picked up.

"What, not even going to ask me why?" Genma pouted, following Kakashi into the apartment.

"Even Guy didn't crack under pressure, and he breaks at a single look from Ibiki."

"Fair point."

"NOOOO!"

Kakashi's bags dropped to the ground with a large THUD.

"My babies!" Kakashi cried out, rushing to the shelf he had left six years previously with all of his Icha Icha novels. "Where are they?!"

Genma barked a laugh. "Right, you haven't seen the newest pervert yet either!"

Kakashi's eye turned dark as he turned to Genma. "Where are they?" He growled.

Genma pointed back at the bookshelf, directly at the tiny folded slip of paper Kakashi had missed.

*I borrowed your books for safe keeping.*

Loopy and flowery cursive that was far too neat, almost obsessively so. Kakashi would never be able to mistake the handwriting of Sakura Haruno.

"Why does Sakura have my novels?"

Next to Kakashi, Genma visibly paled.

"Genma...?"

"Don't look at me like that! I can't tell, she'll punch me through five walls!" Before he could crack, Genma quickly performed the handseals for a transportation jutsu and disappeared with the signature puff of smoke.

For kami's sake, what was going on in Konoha?

Kakashi took a deep breath to still his mind, for panicking would not save his Icha Icha from the hands of evil Sakura Haruno (surely Uchiha by now?) who had probably burned them all in retribution for sending her a novel every year for the past six years of his own writing. Or maybe she was upset at him for his last night in Konoha?

Moving towards the window by his bed (the dust was beginning to itch his eye), Kakashi noticed that his discarded clothes from his last night in Konoha were still on the floor, along with a pair of strappy heels Kakashi deliciously remembered digging into his lower back. Kakashi kicked them all aside. The dust that arose would have sent him into a horrid coughing fit if it weren't for his mask.

He only spent a few moments airing things out before settling on his first course of action.

The only person Genma could have been referring to was Sakura, Tsunade wouldn't have a stake in his books, and Sakura was probably his best bet for working out why Naruto had a death wish.

It didn't take much asking around to determine that Sakura was living in her family home in the civilian portion of the village.

"Has she not married Sasuke Uchiha yet?" Kakashi inquired of the older woman who had gladly given him directions.

She proceeded to look at him like he was crazy. "Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha? Have you been living under a rock? Their engagement was all the news years ago, then all the news again when she broke it off a month later! You must be jesting!"

"Ahh, right, of course, I guess I just...forgot?"

The old lady continued to laugh.

Kakashi found Sakura's house from there easily enough, as he had visited her family home once when he first became her instructor. When he knocked, there was no answer and no sounds from within that hinted at anybody being home at the moment. Kakashi settled himself on the porch casually enough and pulled out his favorite Icha Icha book, the only one he had allowed himself to take, and settled himself in to wait for Sakura to get home.

0o0

Sakura scooped up her son of five years old and proceeded to fall backwards onto the grass of the training field. "I'm hit!" she cried out, "My own son has mortally wounded me!"

"Mommy!" he replied with a squeal of laughter. He was trying to escape the iron-clad grip keeping him pinned to her. "You're supposed to be the evil Orochimaru!"

"Oh dear!" Sakura exclaimed, "Have I messed up our roles again? Who are you supposed to be?"

The boy began to flail around his limbs in another escape attempt. "I am the Third Hokage! I am going to steal your arms!"

Sakura laughed at this and rolled her and her son over, pinning him to the ground. "Is that so, my dear? But how shall you take my arms when I am clearly on the cusp of defeating you?"

"Mom!"

"Okay, okay, enough play, its getting late."

The boy huffed as his mother released him. "Fine, but tomorrow you're Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist!"

"Let me guess, you're going to be Naruto?"

"Who else would I be?" He asked matter-of-factly, "Uncle Naruto is the one who defeated Zabuza!"

"You should read a little bit more instead of listening to your histories from Naruto. He likes to insert himself as the hero."

The boy paused at this, peering at his mother inquisitively. "If Naruto didn't defeat Zabuza, who did?"

"Hmm..." Sakura tapped her chin in pretend thought. "I guess I could tell you the real story...if..."

"If?"

Sakura grinned cheekily. "You'll have to beat me home!"

Her son disappeared at the word "beat".

Sakura counted to ten, slowly, before racing after him.

She caught up with him two blocks shy of home. "Come on, mister, keep up! I think you're getting slower!" Sakura teased.

They both put on an extra burst of speed, Sakura pulling ahead-

Was that...

No...

That couldn't be his chakra signature, could it?

Oh no...

"I'm going to beat you!"

"Oh no you don't!" Sakura quickly scooped up her son into her arms and flipped him onto her back.

"Mom! You're cheating again!"

"All is fair in love and war." She said back to him.

She slowed her pace, then, going from a gallop to a jog to a walk. Sakura approached the gate a little cautiously and lifted the catch of the hip-high garden fence. Her eyes instantly went to her porch.

"Mommy, there's a strange man on our porch."

Several emotions rushed through Sakura then at the sight of her old sensei lounging on the porch, a familiar book sprawled across his face as he took a nap. Nostalgia was first and Sakura's heart clenched at the sight, because he looked exactly the same as he had when she was twelve and he had lounged around while the rest of Team Seven completed whatever D-rank mission they had been assigned that day. Next came happiness and joy to know he was finally home, he had finally returned. But then trepidation and anxiety creeped in; what was he doing on *her* porch? Her heart and body yearned for him but broke all over again at the memory of him leaving all those years ago. Hope that he was maybe still interested in her. Rejection because she greatly doubted that's why he was here. Love, anger, resentment, fear, joy, bliss. So much emotion, so many confused thoughts.

"Kakashi."

The sound of her voice seemed to rouse her once-upon-a-time-sensei and he reached up to his face to lift the book. "Yo!" he greeted with his signature eye-crinkle smile.

Her son managed to jump off her back and ran up to the "strange man". "Who are you?" He asked with obvious excitement. "Are you new to the village? I know everybody, and I definitely don't know you, so you must be new! Or do you know my mom? She called you Kakashi, is that your name?"

"Hiromaru," Sakura lightly scolded, "You don't have to ask him so many questions. This is Kakashi Hatake, he was my old jounin sensei. And he's going to be the Sixth Hokage."

Her son's eyes lit up with interest and excitement. "You knew mom when she was a genin? You're the next Hokage?"

Kakashi's smile faltered as he looked from the boy to Sakura. "Mom?" Kakashi looked back at the boy. He had silver hair that looked as disheveled as Kakashi's, but definitely some of Sakura's facial features, and one eye was jade green just like hers and the other-

CHOKE.

"Mommy, Kakashi Hatake is choking."

"Thank you, Hiromaru, why don't you go inside?" Sakura suggested to her son, gesturing for him to go on. "Why don't you put last night's dinner in the microwave? I'll help Kakashi."

"Okay!" Hiromaru skipped his way into the house.

Kakashi continued to splutter.

Sakura waited for him.

Finally grasping some form of composure, Kakashi drew himself up. He couldn't figure out what to say. His mind kept running in a very tight circle.

Sakura sighed. "Yes, Kakashi, Hiromaru is your son."

Kakashi's legs proceeded to give out underneath him.

He had a son! Kakashi had a son! How could he not have known?

And then everything clicked into place. Tsunade had started calling him home nine months after he had left. Naruto wanted to kill him for getting Sakura pregnant and then just leaving. Everytime he had met somebody from Konoha on his travels, they had always been a little too guarded when talking about home. The way everybody had looked at him upon coming home, looking forward to him discovering the bomb-shell. Sai had said all of his bones would be broken twice for telling, and Kakashi knew that Sakura could break every bone in the human body precisely into fourths. The only person aside from Tsunade who could push Genma through several walls was Sakura. She must have threatened everybody with severe physical pain so she could be the one to tell him.

Sakura sat down next to him on the porch. She seemed tense and resigned.

"I'm sorry." Kakashi managed to choke out.

Sakura turned to look at him.

"If I had known, I never would have left." He finally said.

Sakura snorted. "That's exactly why I told Tsunade not to call you back, though I know she ignored my wishes. It took me a long time to come to terms with everything, and maybe I should have told you, but I couldn't bear the thought of you coming back before you were ready. And Hiromaru is amazing, I can't imagine my life without him. I could do without the Sharingan, though, he gets into way too much trouble with that thing." She paused, uncomfortable. "I think I'm trying to say that I don't regret anything."

Kakashi stood up and turned to Sakura. It took him several false starts to finally get going. "Sakura, I would have moved mountains for you! All you ever had to do was ask it of me! As soon as I knew, I would have come back! I would have married you and helped you and given you whatever foods you were craving through pregnancy and rubbed your feet and have been a punching bag for your hormones and-"

Sakura stood up then too. "But I didn't want that!" She shouted at him. "I didn't want you here out of some stupid sense of duty! I wanted you here because you loved me!" Immediately, Sakura's jaw dropped open as she realized what she had said. "I mean-" she tried desperately to back-track.

"I've loved you for eight years."

Silence.

"You...what?"

Kakashi closed the distance between them and placed his hands on Sakura's shoulders. "Sakura Haruno... I've loved you since you were sixteen, I've loved you since it was wrong for me to love you! My feelings have never changed, not once all of these years."

Sakura's eyes filled with tears. She was looking at him with confusion. "I, but, I don't understand...I was just...it was just...one night stand..."

"A night I would have given anything to have happen over and over again. That night, that night that led to all of this, was me being greedy. I knew you were being pursued by Sasuke and I was leaving for at least four years and I thought it was my only chance to get to be with you."

"Why, why didn't you say anything sooner?"

Kakashi laughed. "Sakura, I'm fourteen years your senior. You'd never look at a guy like me with genuine interest. I took what I could get and I was determined to let that be enough."

Sakura truly started crying. "You idiot! You complete utter...no..."

Kakashi stepped back. No? Had he overstepped? Did she not want him here?

"You had to leave." She said, "I know that. You weren't ready for Hokage and you had to leave. I've accepted that, it's the way it had to go, no matter what events happened. But you broke my heart, Kakashi, waking up in your bed after the greatest experience of my entire life and being alone tore my heart to shreds because I knew right then and there that I loved you too!"

And then she was reaching for him and crying into his chest. Kakashi's hands reached around her to hold her close. He pressed his covered lips to the top of her head.

Without warning, Sakura's sobs turned into laughter and she pulled back. "Look at us! Who would have thought we would end up here?"

"Bit of a twisted road." He agreed.

"It would have saved us both a lot of internal conflict if you had just told me, you know. If we had been honest with each other from the start."

"Won't happen again." Kakashi promised with a smile.

Sakura patted Kakashi's shoulders then, taking stock, before pulling away to head up the stairs of her porch. "Come meet your son, Kakashi."

He didn't need to be told twice. "The Sharingan...how...?"

"It comes more naturally to him than it did you. But it makes him an incredibly fast learner on top of what he got between you and I. His IQ is off the charts. But, like you, he can only take the Sharingan so far, he doesn't quite meet the standards of an Uchiha, yet. He used to get so tired as a toddler and his eye would ache... He loves the academy though."

They had made their way to the kitchen by then. Sakura paused to watch her son, who had placed three plates on the small table with leftovers and was currently eating the vegetables on his plate.

"Hi mom. Hi dad."

Kakashi visibly stiffened.

Sakura merely laughed at his surprise. "He's a genius. What were you expecting?"

Kakashi chuckled embarrassedly. "I forgot what I had been like as a kid."

"Mom!" Hiromaru admonished. "You promised to tell me about Zabuza, the Demon of the Mists."

"I did, didn't I? But, wouldn't it be so much better if the person who took him down told the story?"

"Sakura-"

"Really?!" Hiromaru shot up to his feet. "My dad defeated the Demon of the Mists? You have to tell me now! I need to be able to correct Uncle Naruto the next time he brings it up!"

"Alright, alright." Kakashi took a seat at the table. "Where to begin, where to begin..."

Kakashi began his telling of the story, starting with how Naruto had begged and wheedled and complained into getting them an A-rank mislabeled as a C-rank mission.

For Kakashi had finally arrived home and there was no where else he would rather be.

0o0

"Was it hard, raising him by yourself?"

Sakura stirred sleepily and lifted her head off of Kakashi's chest to look at him. She yawned. "I wasn't by myself. Hiromaru...he's gotten more attention from the entire village than Konohamaru, the honored grandson, ever did. Tsunade has spoiled him rotten with her parentage bet earnings-"

"Of course there was a bet." Kakashi laughed.

"-and even though Naruto refused to change nappies, he would be the first to give me a break." A giggle. "He was so pissed at you when Hiromaru was born. It was so obvious Hiromaru was your son and Naruto wanted to never know who had knocked me up. And Sai adores Hiromaru, has since Hiromaru could say Sai's name; he says it's because it's easier to understand and learn from a child, who is still learning how to interact with people. And Iruka-sensei was quick to take Hiromaru under his wing at the Academy. It was... I wasn't alone."

Silence descended for a moment and Sakura took her chance to snuggle closer.

"Did he miss me?"

"I don't know. He's...never asked about you, I don't know why. Hiromaru caught on at some point that he had to have a father, but... He hasn't asked yet. I was only going to tell him that you were alive, away on a mission that nobody could do better than you, and that you would be back.

"You shouldn't worry." Sakura said, sitting up. "He's only just reached that age where he wants and needs his father, wants and needs a man to look up to and to emulate and honor and respect. And if you couldn't tell, he already loves you.

"Now how about you kiss me and make me the happiest woman on earth?"

Kakashi eagerly complied. He pulled Sakura into his lap. "One last question."

Sakura signed, but smiled anyways. "Fine."

"What did you do with my Icha Icha collection?"

A mischievous smile from Sakura as she leaned down to whisper seductively into his ear. "What do you think I did with them? I read them. I en-joy-ed them. Eek!"

Kakashi settled over his flustered Sakura, smirking at her expression at having been flipped. "I'm the luckiest man in the world."

And the rest was history.

 **A/N: This was originally supposed to be the end, but a night of insomnia put my creative juices into high gear and I ended up writing a short epilogue for this story and a scene for my next story.** **If you've read this far in, please leave a review! Was there something in this story you particularly liked? Was there something you weren't a fan of? Constructive criticism is always welcome!**


	4. Epilogue (Bonus Chapter)

**A/N: This little guy was inspired during a small bout of insomnia. And here I thought I was finished with this story, but I just HAD to write one more small bit.**

Not Fair - Epilogue

Sixteen-year-old Hiromaru perched lackadaisically across the roof of Hokage Tower, enjoying the warm sun, the fresh spring-time breeze that smelled of summer's promise, and the small little purple book he was casually flipping through. Below him, he could hear his father muttering to himself, complaining about Naruto and his diplomat skills. From the entrance of the tower, Hiromaru could also overhear Izumo and Kotetsu trying to delegate work assigned to them from the Sixth Hokage.

It was Hiromaru's day off, his jounin team didn't have any missions that day, and he was free to keep tabs on his family and the other people at Hokage Tower while Hiromaru read the books that his father had written for his mother. It was the perfect day.

CRASH.

Blinking in surprise, Hiromaru quickly readjusted himself to hang upside down above the balcony outside his father's office. He wasn't surprised to see his mother had broken another door and was somehow dragging all three triplets into the room. Hiromaru smiled. Sakura Hatake could do anything, including manhandling the triplets with only two hands, and make it look easy.

Kakashi outwardly groaned and gave each person in front of him the I-don't-want-to-deal-with-this-right-now look.

Hakuoh, the first triplet, had the decency to look contrite. He was rubbing at the back of his neck underneath the high pony-tail that held his shaggy silver hair. His clothes were covered in orange paint. Next to him, Taiga was directing her I'm-completely-innocent look at the Hokage/her father; her pink hair was tied back in a thick fishtail braid that reached her waist. Ryojii was the only one of them all who looked at all genuinely guilty and was anxiously wringing his hands; he had gotten the silver-hair too, which he kept cut short and close to his scalp. All three triplets had the exact same eyes as Hiromaru, the right eye jade-green and the left red with the black tomoe of the Sharingan.

Hiromaru almost let out a laugh of enjoyment at the sight of his younger siblings. He loved it when they were in trouble for their incorrigible pranks. It sometimes seemed as if Hiromaru was the only proper member of the family, the only one who genuinely cared about the rules and policies and proper respect.

"What did they do?" Kakashi finally asked Sakura resignedly.

"These three," she scowled, giving each triplet a glare, "They, ugh, no, just look!" Sakura pointed furiously out the window.

And at the vibrantly colored Hokage monument.

Hiromaru blinked. Then blinked again.

"How..." Kakashi faltered, his eyes widening in increments. "How did three nine-year-olds paint the entire Hokage monument before getting caught?"

The triplets giggled.

"I'm going to take a stab," Sakura glared at the triplets to prove her point, "And say somebody copied a few of Sai's jutsus, and maybe, oh, I don't know, combined a water dragon in there somewhere too."

The proud smiles from the triplets was answer enough.

"And don't think I don't know about that explosion jutsu you created, Ryojji!" Sakura snapped.

Kakashi's palm met his face. Without removing it, he grumbled his instructions. "Hakuoh, you get to spend the rest of the week after the Academy with Hinata in her garden, and you will do *anything* she asks of you."

"Yes, father."

"Taiga, you will scrub off all of the paint, under Guy's supervision, without jutsu. And it better be done before next week's dignitaries arrive from Sand and Mist."

"But-" A look from Kakashi was all it took for Taiga to cut herself off and stiffly nod.

"Ryojii...uhm..."

"You're going to report to me at the hospital everyday after Academy." Sakura interjected, a mischievous smile on her face. "I have some perfect jobs for you there."

"Yes, mother..." the stricken look on Ryojii's face said it all. The youngest triplet knew exactly what his mother had in mind for him.

"Dismissed..." Kakashi sighed.

The triplets ran out the door.

All of the tension left Sakura's shoulders as they left and she moved behind Kakashi's desk. Kakashi pushed back in his chair a little bit, allowing Sakura to hop up on the desk in front of him. She threaded her fingers through Kakashi's hair, eliciting a grateful moan.

"What the hell did we create with those three?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi replied with a grunt.

Sakura laughed.

Kakashi put his head into her cleavage, Sakura's fingers still working at his scalp.

Hiromaru turned his attention to the street, where the triplets were letting out large whoops.

"We totally got off easy!" Taiga exclaimed.

"Way worth it." Hakuoh shouted.

"You guys don't have to clean out dirty bed-pans and massage old lady feet!" Ryojii argued vehemently. "Why am I always stuck with the worst jobs?"

"Dad can never think of enough punishments for all three of us, that's why." Taiga replied, patting her younger brother on the shoulder.

"And mom's evil!" Hakuoh cried out, cursing the heavens. "I don't ever want to get one of her punishments!"

"Let's go tell Uncle Naruto what we did!" Taiga exclaimed.

A giggle brought Hiromaru back to what was happening in the Hokage office.

"Kakashi!" Sakura exclaimed, swatting at her husband as he pressed kisses to her neck.

"What, you don't want another?" Kakashi replied. "Maybe we'll get lucky and just have twins this time!"

Hiromaru hoisted himself back up to the roof, leaving the scene before things could become particularly steamy between his parents. He settled himself back into his previous lounging position and reopened his book.

Hiromaru's siblings were going to be occupied for a week, which was more for their benefit than the three of them realized, and Hiromaru's parents were still screwing like rabbits, and Hiromaru still had the day off to read.

And it was about time for his parents to have another baby anyways, Hiromaru mused, for the triplets would be graduating the Academy in the next year or so (Hiromaru had graduated when he was eight) and his parents would start suffering from empty-nest syndrome. And Hiromaru wouldn't mind having a sibling or two who would actually look up to him, since the triplets made it a point to ignore absolutely everything Hiromaru tried to teach them. And another Hatake was exactly what Konoha needed!

Yeah, more siblings, Hiromaru found himself siding with his dad on that one.

Yep, life was still perfect and exactly the way it should be.

 **A/N: I just wanted to thank everybody who reviewed and favorites this story! (~20 reviews and favorites over three chapters is good! Thank you all so much!) I decided to post this chapter shortly after posting chapter 3 because I was kinda ready for it to be over. I can't classify this as being anywhere near my best work (maybe that's what I get for choosing an "it's-already-been-done-to-death" trope). It was a fun little idea, though, and I can't say I regret writing it.** **But I'm looking forward to my next adventure! I have an ItaSaku planned to do for NaNoWriMo this year and I have an idea for an ItaSaku short story (probably between 10,000 and 20,000 words long?) that I might try to crank out before October is over.** **Thank you everybody who stuck around to read this to the end!**


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